Reading, watching, listening, and gaming recommendations from the staff of the American Writers Museum.
We can’t recommend these books, films, shows, plays, albums, and games highly enough! Check back every month for more entertainment recommendations, from classics that we revisit over and over to new favorites. If you’re looking for your next book or movie or show or whatever, you came to the right place.
Many of our February book recommendations are also available on Bookshop.org, which benefits independent bookstores. We also strongly encourage you to support your local bookstore by visiting them in person or ordering online through them directly.
Let us know what you’ve been into recently in the comments!
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX Halftime Show
As a lifelong fan of the New England Patriots (it’s not my fault I was born there), this was definitely the highlight of Super Bowl LX for me. I have watched it at least once a day since. Benito Antonio MartÃnez Ocasio, aka Bad Bunny, graced us with a magnificent performance entirely in Spanish with visuals and set pieces that honored his Puerto Rican heritage. Bad Bunny, a citizen of the United States, delivered the staunchest “pro-American” performance I’ve seen recently, reminding us that America is not just the United States. And speaking of Patriots, Bad Bunny’s performance was incredibly patriotic, recognizing the power of this country when multiple cultures mix and mingle to dance, not fight. The only English (except for Lady Gaga) appeared at the end with the jumbotron flashing: “THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE.” That’s real patriotism, not feelings of inadequacy and unfounded fear masking as patriotism.
If you’re still not sold, just watch the performance. I dare you to try to not move to the music and get amped up whether you know the language or not. Also, Ricky Martin has absolutely still got it.
—Nate, Content & Exhibits Manager
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
The literary world lost a light in December with the passing of Madeleine Wickham, also known as Sophie Kinsella. The first book in her bestselling Shopaholic series, published in 2000, went on to spawn seven sequels plus a movie starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy in 2009. Go back to the first installment in the series and meet Becky Bloomwood all over again—a financial journalist whose love of shopping is disproportionate with her bank account and knowledge of money (despite her profession).
—Annie, Administrative Associate
Deathlok: The Living Nightmare of Michael Collins by Dwayne McDuffie, Gregory Wright, Jackson “Butch” Guice & Denys Cowan
The time-traveling cyborg of the ’70s is reinvented for the ’90s by the aforementioned writers and artists, while keeping true to its pulp sci-fi origins. Michael Collins, a computer scientist, suburban family man, and avowed pacifist, discovers that his work on high-tech artificial limbs for people with disabilities has actually been used to create weapons of war. Before he can blow the whistle, his boss Ryker fakes Collins’s death, removes his brain, and implants it into the Deathlok cyborg body.
Under Ryker’s control, Deathlok massacres guerillas and civilians in the fictional Latin American country of “Estrella” during a counter-revolutionary operation on behalf of US oil company Roxxon. However, during the massacre, Collins’s consciousness wakes up, gains control of the cyborg body, and joins with the revolutionaries to kick Roxxon out of the country. And that’s just like, in issue #1.
I think this may be a good read for Black History Month. Collins is a Black man who, despite having achieved the American Dream on paper, has not just his labor but his very body, mind, and soul stolen and used to enrich the white capitalist class. The follow-up story, collected in a different volume as The Souls of Cyber-Folk, makes this connection even more explicit, not just by referencing W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk in the title, but engaging with that text itself.
—Cassidy, Guest Services Manager
Desesperanto: Poems 1999-2002 by Marilyn Hacker
One of the best parts of working at this museum is all the new-to-me discoveries. This month, it was Marilyn Hacker and this collection. As the book jacket notes, “the title itself is a wordplay combining the Spanish word esperanto, signifying ‘hope,’ and the French desespoir, meaning ‘to lose heart.’ Desesperanto, then, is a universal language of despair — despair of the possibility of a universal language.” I’m not in any specific state of despair at the moment, but perhaps just the eternal state of despair caused by *gestures arms vaguely*. This collection is over twenty years old but still resonates with the state of the country and the world today.
Like despair itself, Hacker’s poetic topics find range and variation. The book feels tight and fluid. It’s structured and surprising. There is an elegy to June Jordan, and slice-of-life scenes in France. There are references to Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath, Emmit Till and Matthew Shepard. A ghazal in response to Adrienne Rich, a sonnet about migraines. Seemingly distant or unconnected events feel smaller and closer in the grip of despair, whether personal or political, present or historic. We are all bound together by the same universal language.
Thank you to Program Director Allison for the suggestion! I’m looking forward to the talk with Marilyn Hacker and Deema Shehabi on Monday April 20 at the American Writers Museum. I hope you can join us! Get your tickets here to attend in person, or register here to watch the livestream.
—Andrew, Institutional Giving Manager
Football by Chuck Klosterman
I have been a longtime fan of Chuck Klosterman and now there is a new book for the “performative males” out there. The title is simply Football, not even a subtitle to confuse us. I recently saw him with my friend Kevin (who is a card-carrying member of the AWM as well!) at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago. Our respective partners (who are talented, funny, smart, and beautiful) called it “your little football literature date.” It was exactly that and it was a great time.
Klosterman is his usual self in this book, tackling (see what I did there) a subject we are all familiar with on one level or another but adding his unique wit and cultural insights to it. With NFL games played mostly on Sundays and our special exhibit American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture currently on display, I have been curious about the “religion” of football and why it is so ingrained in American culture. Klosterman dives into it and illustrates why this “religion” might not have such a strong cultural hold on us in the near future.
—Nate, Content & Exhibits Manager
Here We Go Crazy by Bob Mould
Released in 2025, the latest solo album from the former Husker Du frontman was self-produced in Chicago. “On the surface, this is a group of straightforward guitar pop songs. I’m refining my primary
sound and style through simplicity, brevity, and clarity,” Mould said in a press statement. “Under the hood, there’s a number of contrasting themes. Control and chaos, hypervigilance and helplessness, uncertainty and unconditional love.”
—Annie, Administrative Associate
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
From the publisher: “Dana’s 26th birthday celebration ends when she’s ripped from 1976 California and thrust onto a Maryland slave plantation in 1815. Her mission: keep alive the white boy who will grow up to assault her ancestor—because without him, she’ll never be born. Every trip back grows more dangerous. Dana feels the lash, wears the chains, endures the daily terror that defined millions of lives. She can’t just read about slavery’s horrors—she lives them, bleeds from them, nearly breaks under them…This isn’t historical fiction—it’s time travel that cuts straight to the bone of American racism.”
—Linda, Director of Development
Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash
I wasn’t sure whether to believe the hype about what Interview Magazine called “the year’s buzziest debut,” but Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs deserves its recent praise. While reading the book and its related press, Cash’s ambition to garner inspiration from outside of her real life stood out to me. There is certainly validity to autofiction as a genre or exercise, but Lost Lambs felt imaginative and refreshing, wittily evoking familiar American phenomena. Cash’s commentary on consumerism and conspiracy theories may feel typical of a modern American classic, but its vibe is singular. One way I described it to my colleague was “if Jonathan Franzen were a Zillennial girl.” To my friend, I called it “The Bee Sting meets The Simpsons meets something directed by Sofia Coppola.” In any event, I loved it.
—Sydney, Systems Operations Coordinator
Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit by Josh Noel
Having turned 21 in the year [redacted] at the start of Malört’s surge in popularity, I’ve had more of the bitter wormwood liqueur than I should probably admit to on a blog my employers read. To some it was disgusting. To us “two-fisted drinkers” it was fun. Malört on the rocks with bitters? Rumplemintz and Malört? Nothing was off limits. But it was always difficult to nail down the origins of the confounding elixir. Josh Noel’s definitive text finally corrects that.
As the legend goes, Swedish immigrant Carl Jeppeson sold his liqueur to distributor-businessman-lawyer George Brode in 1933. Brode managed the distribution of Malört (even after a year in prison for evading military service) through the mid-20th century, even keeping it as a hobby when he retired. After his passing in 1999, control of Malört was bequeathed to his life-partner Pat Gabelik (who was 34 years younger than him), who maintained it to honor his legacy. She let the business run on auto-pilot until folks at bars like Green Mill, Bar De Ville, and Simon’s started spreading the word. Volunteers came into the company and growth exploded in the 2010s. Word-of mouth, appreciation, confusion, and most importantly fascination, continued to spread it around. It was a perfect drink to toast friends and enemies alike.
There were many times throughout Malört’s nearly century-old history where it could have (or should have) gone out of business. But we love a scrappy underdog story, especially in Chicago. The chaotic storyline, with roots in immigration, its unique bold flavor: it’s a story that could only happen in this city, with history, myth, and folklore all rolled into one, written with journalistic precision by Noel. It’s a story that, much like Malört itself, will linger with you even after the final page is turned.
—Andrew, Institutional Giving Manager
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
From the publisher: “The author of award-winning Hamnet brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de’ Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court…Full of the beauty and emotion with which she illuminated the Shakespearean canvas of Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell turns her talents to Renaissance Italy in an extraordinary portrait of a resilient young woman’s battle for her very survival.”
—Maya, Marketing & Creative Associate
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
From the publisher: “Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived…While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.”
—Annie, Administrative Associate
The Muppet Show (2026 TV Special)
From Rotten Tomatoes: “Kermit, Miss Piggy and the beloved Muppet gang are back with a brand-new special event. Music, comedy, and a whole lot of chaos are bound to ensue when The Muppets once again take the stage of the original Muppet Theatre with their very special guest, Sabrina Carpenter…It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights—this spirited return to The Muppet Show‘s roots is clever, earnest, and feels exactly right.”
The spirituality of the Muppets, and Jim Henson specifically, are explored in depth in the Holiness & Humor section of our special exhibit American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture. Visit the AWM today to learn more!
—Matt, Community Engagement Manager
Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa
I read Thammavongsa’s short story collection, How to Pronounce Knife, for my Canadian Literature class during undergrad. This author’s observational structure, particularly from unique or overlooked perspectives, struck me immediately. Her debut novel, Pick a Color, follows this trend of sharp observation. The narrator is named Ning, but at the nail salon she operates, she and her co-workers are all known as Susan. This pithy 192-pager takes place over the course of one day. It is delectable—providing contrast between Ning’s work as a manicurist (with the sometimes superficial requests of her customers) and her complex inner life. Readers will connect with Ning’s insights and dark humor about the world that surrounds her.
—Sydney, Systems Operations Coordinator
Ponies created by Susanna Fogel and David Iserson
From Rotten Tomatoes: “In 1977 Moscow, two ‘PONIES’ (‘persons of no interest’ in intelligence speak) work‬†anonymously as secretaries in the American Embassy. That is, until their husbands die under‬†mysterious circumstances in the Soviet Union, and they are thrust into the CIA. Bea Grant is‬†sharp, over-educated and fluent in Russian—a child of Russian immigrants, trying to make‬†sense of a life that hasn’t turned out the way she expected. Twila Hasbeck is a small-town‬†firecracker: abrasive, bold and more fearless than she should be. Thrown together by grief and‬†circumstance, the two dig into the vast conspiracy their husbands were killed for…As much a buddy adventure as it is an espionage caper, Ponies‘ likable trot of a story gradually achieves full gallop thanks to Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson’s tag-team charisma.”
—Matt, Community Engagement Manager
Sentimental Value screenplay by Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt
From Rotten Tomatoes: “Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star. Suddenly, the two sisters must navigate their complicated relationship with their father—and deal with an American star dropped right into the middle of their complex family dynamics…Deftly exploring the uneasy tension between artistic expression and personal connection, Sentimental Value is a bracingly mature work from writer-director Joachim Trier that’s marvelously acted across the board.”
—Maya, Marketing & Creative Associate
Spirit of the Shadows, Issue #1 by Nick Cagnetti and Daniel Ziegler
I was a huge fan of co-writer and artist Nick Cagnetti’s previous comic, Pink Lemonade, and have been eagerly awaiting this book since seeing some early character designs Cagnetti posted a few years ago. Now it’s out and it far exceeded my expectations. The story gripped me right away, I can’t wait to find out what happens next, and the colorful art and designs are just gorgeous. Excellent stuff!
More from the publisher: “Once, Erik Leroux was a mortal musician, selflessly devoted to his music and his true love, Katrina…until his sudden death plunged his soul into the carnival-like torments of the Spirit World beyond our own. Now, reborn as a phantom with fleeting memories of his life among the living, and forever cursed to bear the arcane costume his corpse wore to the grave, Erik will claw his way back from the infernal planes to uncover the mysteries of his own life…and avenge the dark sins that transformed him into the SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS!”
—Cassidy, Guest Services Manager
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
From the publisher: “Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of rural Australia. She doesn’t believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident. But disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations. First comes a terrible mouse plague, each day signaling a new battle against the rising infestation. Second is the return of the skeletal remains of a sister who disappeared decades before, presumed murdered. And finally, a troubling visitor plunges the narrator further back into her past.
Meditative, moving, and finely observed, Stone Yard Devotional is a seminal novel from a writer of rare power, exploring what it means to retreat from the world, the true nature of forgiveness, and the sustained effect of grief on the human soul.”
—Carol, Assistant Director of Development
What It Is: Poems and Opinions of Oscar Brown Jr. by Oscar Brown Jr.
From OscarBrownJr.org: “Step into the brilliant mind of Oscar Brown Jr. with What It Is—a collection of poems and opinions that blend wit, rhythm, and razor-sharp social insight. Bold, lyrical, and unapologetically original, this book captures Oscar’s genius as both a poet and provocateur. Discover the words that still challenge, uplift, and inspire today.”
As part of our American Prophets exhibit, we commissioned a new banner to hang in the Chicago Gallery to uplift the legacy of Oscar Brown Jr. We are honored to host two of his daughters—Maggie and Africa Brown—for a special program to celebrate his life and work. Later this month, the “2 Brown Sisters” will discuss their father’s legacy and perform some of his work. I really hope you can join us because it will be a special night, so get your tickets here!
—Nate, Content & Exhibits Manager
Visit our Reading Recommendations page for more book lists.